Direct flight to Heathrow cuts travel time in half

The direct flight to London Heathrow from St. John’s is currently in its second year of operation. Air Canada announced plans in December 2009 to resume its direct, daily flight soon after another airline announced plans to fly direct to Gatwick—a plan that was abandoned shortly before it was scheduled to go into effect.

The flight departs on a daily basis, leaving at 11:00 pm Newfoundland time and arriving in London at 6:30 am—just in time for breakfast and to get to central London within two hours on the tube, or 20 minutes on the Heathrow express.

A five-hour flight from St. John’s really beats flying first to Halifax, in which case total flying time is 13 hours, or Toronto, where flying time is between 12 and 14 hours. For the same price you can fly directly to St. John’s instead of flying over St. John’s for either an extra 45 minutes to Halifax or an extra three hours to Toronto, only to clear customs, turn around, and fly back east for another three to four hours.

“Having direct flights available from St. John’s to London Heathrow is very beneficial because of the number of students travelling abroad, especially to the United Kingdom, for a variety of study programs, as well as work terms and internships. Memorial’s Harlow Campus in Old Harlow, England, particularly, generates a large number of travellers from St. John’s to London every semester,” said Zaren Healey White, Memorial University’s Go-Abroad coordinator.

The flight connects Newfoundland with Europe and the rest of the world. London is the doorway to the rest of Europe, and once you get there you can easily get a flight to anywhere you could possibly want in Europe and beyond.